Tight end T.J. Hockenson is coming off his first Pro Bowl season in Detroit. His second year with the Lions saw Hockenson spike up into the top three tight ends in receiving yards and improved blocking chops to go with it.
As a result, Hockenson earned a spot as the tight end on the NFL’s All-Under-25 team from NFL.com. The 23-year-old was an easy choice for the honor as the league’s top young tight end,
Hockenson enjoyed a relative breakout in 2020, finishing third in receiving yards among tight ends behind established stars Travis Kelce and Darren Waller. Lions tight ends coach Ben Johnson thinks it’s just the beginning for the 2019 draft’s eighth overall pick, recently telling reporters “there’s plenty of meat still on the bone” with Hockenson, and adding that “the sky’s the limit for this kid.”
The arrow is still pointing way up for Detroit’s first-round pick in 2019, too. The concluding sentence of his segment says it all,
“He’s the best tight end under 25, and it might not be long before he’s considered one of the premier players at the position, regardless of age.”
Hockenson caught 67 passes for 723 yards and six touchdowns in 2020.
The only other Lions player to earn a mention on the list was punter Jack Fox, who was second at his spot to New England’s Jake Bailey.
